Just as One
by Intertwining Sparks
Summary: Ben was not lucky. Ghostfreak got what he wanted: control of Ben's body. How does this all play out, and what are the consequences? Alternate ending to Ghostfreaked Out.
1. Chapter 1

Never wrote a Ben 10 fan fic, so why not give it a try?

Ghostfreak is one of my all time favorite characters in this series, and I've been meaning to write an AU to the episode _Ghostfreaked Out_. Criticism is always welcome.

* * *

"Ben, no," screamed Grandpa Max as he watched in horror. Gwen struggled in the strong grasp of the circus freaks. She pulled and pulled as hard as she could, but she knew it was to no avail.

Ben had thrashed about in the painful grip against his shoulders, screaming- no, screeching- dreading what would happen next. He saw the Omnitrix glow green, and was suddenly filled with relief. Just in the nick of time! He'd change into Heatblast or XLR-8, and teach Ghostfreak who he was dealing with!

Gathering up strength, he went for the Omnitrix. Everything would be OK. Everything would be fine, and he'd find a way to beat this guy. Everything would be OK in the end.

After all, it always did end up OK.

He was a hero.

He would always win in the-

Ghostfreak applied more pressure onto his shoulders, his claws digging in deeper, and Ben's train of thought was abruptly cut off. He screamed, and his hand reeled back in response to the sudden pain. Ghostfreak took the opportunity. He slithered his way in and disappeared.

Ben fell to his knees, screaming had ceased almost immediately. His eyes, which were alive with fear and pain, were large and blank. He stared at the ground, uncomfortably silent.

Everything was in silence. The circus freaks had waited for some sort of command from their master. Grandpa Max and Gwen were starring at Ben, hoping what they had seen hadn't just happened. The only sound was the eerie wind and the moving of tree branches hitting against one another.

Ben lifted up his head, his eyes still blank but unchanged. They hadn't changed like the freaks when taken over. They hadn't changed like Gwen's when she was taken over. They maintained their green color..

"Ben?" The ten year old boy turned his head to his cousin, his face expressionless. "Ben, is that you?" Gwen asked again. She seemed terrified.

Suddenly, the boy activated the watch and immediately transformed into Heatblast. The circus freaks backed away, and the one with the mutated hair loosened her grip, giving Max enough space to wriggle free. He threw a punch to the more muscular of the three, forcing the gargantuan fiend back because of the unexpectedness of the attack.

Heatblast immediately shot at the freaks, aim much more precise than usual, almost as if he were on automatic. One of the freaks tried to attack with his acid breath, but Heatblast quickly dodged said assault and threw a strong punch to the freak's jaw, which caused the freak to pass out.

Max and Gwen managed with the large brute, Gwen throwing a few good kicks, being used more as a means of distraction for her grandfather to throw in the good punches. The female freak had attempted to leave her companions and almost escaped. However, Heatblast seemed to be a step ahead tonight, and fired at her.

She was blasted and forced back into the wall of the building. Shaking her head to rid herself of any lingering vertigo, she saw a fast moving fire ball heading her way. She jumped up, narrowly evading the attack.

Heatblast continued his attacks, his face never gained an ounce of emotion. He began to work up a large ball of fire when he forced the freak to the wall. Her eyes were wide with panic as she saw the fire get more and more massive.

Just as she thought her goose was cooked, she heard an odd beeping noise and looked to the emblem on the alien's chest. It flashed red and within seconds, the alien (and fire) was gone and she was met with the boy from before.

She removed herself from the wall and gave the boy a deathly glare. "Well, looks like things are going to go my way no, don't they?" She laughed and went to strike Ben. Merely inches away from strangling him, she stopped herself. She stared right into his eyes, which were still blank, and now almost lifeless. She shook.

Max and the brute were still in hand to hand combat, and the older man was being over powered. He was too old for this and knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer. He shouted to Gwen to get away and help Ben. She made a protest but was answered with a simple, "That wasn't a question! Go!"

Just as she went to run to Ben's direction, she found a large slab of rubble, most likely from the damage they have caused on this building. Briefly thinking of how her chances of acceptance have dwindled to basically nothing, she bent down and lugged it up. It was heavy, but she still went with her plan and willed herself to move forward.

She evaded the large freak, and found a way behind him. Just as he went for another punch to Grandpa Max, she threw the slab and it collided with his lower back. He screamed in surprise, and looked behind him. Max looked for a second to Gwen, then took the chance and threw his hardest punch to the freak's face.

The brute looked back to the older man and was greeted with a fist. The fist rammed perfectly into his face, and we flew back, almost knocking Gwen over. She moved out of the way and barely missed the large fellow fall.

He attempted to get up, but the punch and exhaustion took it out of him, and he was forced into unconsciousness.

Gwen ran over to Max, and she embraced him momentarily.

"I thought I said-"

"I know, I know. But Grandpa, you needed help."

"Ben does too."

And now we can help him without worrying about those two," she stated, gesturing to the two now unconscious freaks. Grandpa sighed, and gave her a solemn smile.

"I guess you're right. Now come on, let's-" Max was interrupted by high pitched screaming. They immediately turned over and screamed Ben's name. What they met with was not a 10 year old boy being attacked.

The female freak was on her knees, hands clamped against the side of her head, and she was screaming. She kept shaking her head, hiccupping. Her eyes were shut. Gwen looked confused and looked up to Grandpa Max. "What's going on?"

Max Tennyson wasn't sure what to say. His grandson simply stood there, starring down at the freak as she cried and screamed. Was she in shock? Did Ben go hard on her while he was Heatblast?

Ben turned his head and looked to the other Tennysons. The freak's crying began to slow down, and eventually, she fell to the ground, and she curled up into a fetal position. Ben blinked and looked down to the freak. He crouched down and softly patted her head. She continued to cry and tried to edge away from the boy.

"B-Ben?" Ben's head turned back to his cousin and grandfather. "What...what happened?" Gwen hesitated in asking.

Ben's expression finally changed. His eyes gained life again, and he began to shake. He wrapped his arms around himself, as if cold. Grandpa Max acted quick and ran over to his grandson. He picked him up, and Ben immediately curled up, still shivering.

This wasn't right. It was summer. Why was Ben cold? Max wasn't sure what had happened. Ghostfreak disappeared. Was the alien wrong? Did he not possess Ben? Did something happen? _Was_ this Ben?

"Grandpa..." Max quickly looked down to his grandson as the ten year old huddled for warmth. "It's...It's cold..." Max bit his own lip and glanced at Gwen.

She didn't like the look on her grandfather's face, and she especially didn't like the look of Ben. Not only did she noticed the violent shivering, she noticed how pale his skin had become. "Is he going to be OK?"

The sound of police sirens were in the background, and Max stared at his grandson, then glanced to the flashing lights of police cars.

"I'm not sure Gwen... I'm honestly not sure."

* * *

Well, there's chapter one. Hopefully I can get chapter 2 up soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Aaah, I almost didn't want to update, but seeing that people actually like this idea of mine, I' decided to update it~! I'm on break so I might be able to get another chapter in before New Years! :D

anwyay- here is more! (sorry if it feels a little rushed at the end).

Once again- I don't own Ben 10 U u U

* * *

Hospitals- no one ever enjoyed them. Many people knew that a sentence to the hospital meant they were not right as rain. They feared the doctors would tell them they have contracted an incurable illness, or they leave, only to later return with another ailment they may have procured during their time in the hospital.

Others may fear it due to a mild or extreme trypanophobia. No one ever enjoyed the sight of sharp surgical tools. No one ever enjoyed knowing that they would be put to sleep so surgeons could cut them open to make them feel better. No one ever been keen on not knowing what was happening to their body. Nobody was fond of not knowing.

Perhaps the biggest fear when walking into these places was the terrifying thought of leaving with one less person.

For Grandpa Max and Gwen, that was their fear.

They had arrived in the hospital less than three hours ago. The circus freaks were cuffed and gagged- the police were fully aware of what these freaks were capable of and would not take any chances. They were put off into armored cars and sent away.

Max Tennyson had been speaking to the paramedics who had placed Ben onto the gurney. Although he was awake, he was still freezing. His temperature was at 95.0°. They began think Ben had a mild case of Hypothermia but they could not explain how he could have contracted it. It was summer, and he had not been previously swimming in cold water.

Had Ben's temperature not been consecutively dropping, the doctors would have told Grandpa Max to take him home.

Every hour or so, Ben's temperature had dropped about 0.6° The doctors decided he should stay the night- with the constant dropping of temperature, the doctors didn't feel sure about sending the boy home.

His lips had turned to a tinted blue, and his breathing had slowed a bit. The doctors had recommended he sleep, but Ben kept saying he was scared. He wouldn't explain why- his voice always became quieter when he tried to explain.

Gwen had fallen asleep on one of the chairs near Ben's bed. The two had sat in silence for the duration of time they had been at the hospital. Ben had starred off into space, teeth chattering every so often. Gwen wasn't sure what to say- she wasn't sure what to do. She's never seen Ben like this- even when he caught the flu not long ago, he still managed to maintain his obnoxious personality.

Then again, an alien ghost wasn't involved last time. Her and Grandpa Max still weren't sure what had happened. Ghostfreak disappeared, and they expected the worst: Ben possessed by a psychopath who would go on some sort of rampage.

Instead, they got a Ben, void of any feeling one moment, then a shivering, scared boy who felt as cold as Death the next moment.

Ben turned his head to his cousin and starred. His lips were becoming chapped and his shivering was beginning to worsen. His condition in general was worsening.

He swung his legs off the bed and grabbed the blanket, wrapping it around himself to keep warm. His legs wobbled a little when he stood up, but he regained his balance and began to walk towards the door. His eyes were vacant- emotionless. His movements seemed almost robotic. Ben bumped into one of the free chairs, which made a bit of noise. Not necessarily a deafening sound, but loud enough to wake Gwen from her sleep.

She rubbed her left eye and looked in front of her. No Ben. She raised an eyebrow and turned to her left. She noticed Ben making his way to the door.

"Hey... Get back in bed before you get more sick, dweeb." Those were the first words Gwen had said to him before the trip to the hospital.

Ben stopped where he was and stood in place. He didn't continue, but he didn't move from his spot in front of the door. After several minutes of waiting for a response, Gwen groaned and got up from her seat.

"Look, whether you're anxious or not, the doctors said to stay in bed. So get back in-" She turned him to face her and was taken aback by his face.

Tears were falling down Ben's face. Gwen wasn't sure how to react. She hadn't seen Ben cry since the two were five. She'd made fun of him for it and he'd swore to never cry in front of her again.

Ben's hands grabbed his own head and he fell to his knees. Gwen's eyes widened in horror. She went down on her knees and tried to help Ben up, but he swatted her hands away, still crying. She wasn't sure what to do. She just stayed in that spot and watched as her cousin cried.

After several awkward minutes of sobbing, Ben slowly calmed down. His shivering calmed down, his sobs became tamer, and he looked back up to Gwen. His face was tear streaked, his eyes were wide and red, and there was snot dripping from his nose.

The doctors and Grandpa Max came in and knocked the two children over, as they had not moved out of the path of the door. The doctors immediately went to Ben and picked him up, ignoring his snot and tear covered face. They placed him back into the bed, wrapped him in blankets again, and scolded him for leaving the bed. Then they noticed his face and asked Max to get the tissues near by the narrow desk in front of Ben's bed.

After cleaning his face, they asked him why he'd left his bed. He didn't answer. He didn't look any of them in the eye and simply remained lying in his bed, staring into the ceiling with empty eyes.

One of the doctors looks to Gwen and asked why her cousin had gotten out of bed.

"I...I don't know. I'm sleeping one minute, he makes noise, and the next he's walking to the door."

She lowered her head and murmured to herself, "Like he was in some kind of trance..."

The doctors looked at one another and sighed disappointedly. One spoke up. "Well, it seems as though visiting hours are almost over. We'll be monitoring him to make sure his temperature doesn't get too low." He looked over to Ben, noticing how blue his lips were becoming. "Let's just hope this doesn't become...severe..."

Max and Gwen looked up at each other, worry plastered over their faces. The doctors told them good evening and they were showed out by one of the nurses.

The two made their way to the RV, and got ready for bed.

Neither of them went to sleep comfortably. Gwen didn't sleep for that matter. She sat up and stared out the window, wondering what was going to happen to Ben.

Her and Grandpa knew this wasn't some case of spontaneous hypothermia. This was linked to Ghostfreak- she wasn't sure how, but she knew it was connected to what happened at Bancoft Academy.

A doctor walked down the quiet hallway of the hospital. He had finished checking up on one of his patients who managed to get a fishing hook hooked into their cheek. Boy, that would be an interesting story to tell the wife and kids when he made his way home!

He passed a nurse and shot her a quick, "Good night," as she walked and threw her arm into a sleeve of her jacket.

He heard from the other nurses that tonight was relatively chilly for summer, but the weather is a strange thing. He decided to not question it. It was the end of July, so perhaps the cool summer nights were coming a little early this year. He'd usually expect it during the middle of August or-

He heard the creak of a door. He turned around and noticed one of the doors slowly opening.

"Ah, God damn door. Nearly scared the crap out of me!" He walked over to the door to close it but noticed the lack of a patient in this room. "That's weird... These are only closed when the room's free."

He poked his head in the room and quickly inspected it. "By the looks of it, someone is staying here. Ugh, whatever." He left it closed and proceeded down the hall.

After a few steps, he heard something fall. He jolted up, but cursed under his breath. "Ugh, I wish these patients would stay still during the night! Them dropping things is gonna give me a heart- hey." He looked in front of him and saw Ben, wrapped completely in his blanket. "Alright, so you're the wise guy! Well, see here kid, if you're a patient, I'll escort you back to your room."

Ben stood there, clinging closer to the blanket that covered his body.

"Kid, come on already. I wanna get home." Ben didn't move. Instead, from the blankets, the man heard an odd chuckle. "Oh, you think this is funny? Well that's it," He went for and pulled the blanket off Ben's body.

Upon seeing what was under the blankets, he opened his mouth to scream.

He never did get to let out that scream.

* * *

Aaaah, I hope that was a little worth the wait ; u ;


	3. Chapter 3

Wow look who decided to update! Sorry for the long wait D: I've been busy, and I almost lost the will to finish this story. But I have returned! I'm not gonna give you a false assumption that this story will be updated more frequently, but I **_will_** be updating! Maybe not as quickly as you'd want, but I'm not abandoning this story by any means!

Anyway- next chapter :D

I don't own Ben 10 in any way, shape, or form uwu

* * *

"Gwen! Gwen!" The red head's eyes shot open. Max had been shaking her for a few moments before she turned her body to look at him. She must have fallen asleep. However, she didn't feel as though she slept. Her neck was stiff and her eyes had burned when she looked towards the light outside.

Max's worried expression told her something bad had happened. "There's police cars all around the hospital. Get dressed quickly- we need to check if Ben's alright."

Gwen had already thrown herself out of bed when he mentioned the hospital. The police? Of all times for something to happen- and to happen at the very hospital Ben is in?

Within minutes, the two had made their way to the hospital. Police officers were all gathered around the entrance, two or so coming in and out, faces pale and filled with disgust. Max had gone up to one of them and tried to ask what had happened. Just as the officer was about to say something, a reporter came up to the officer to ask a few questions.

"Well, ma'am, a nurse was heading home last night, said she forgot her keys and came back to see one of the doctors dead on the ground." Max's eyes widened when he heard.

"Have you found out who the murderer was?"

"Not...really... Seems as though the guy was in costume. But damn... Bastard seemed to go hardcore on this poor man." The police officer shifted awkwardly and looked down, his face going pale like the others who left the hospital.

"Costume you say? What exactly did the cameras show?"

"Ma'am, the perpetrator had these...long claws, one eye, and weird legs. Kinda looked like some kinda monster you'd see in the movies."

"Sir, have you heard of the alien sightings?" The officer nodded. "Are you sure it was a man in costume, and not one of these extraterrestrial life forms that are rumored to have been heard running about?"

Max didn't stick around to hear the rest of the interview. He went over to Gwen and grabbed her arm. "Come on Gwen, we need to find a way inside that hospital."

The doctors were flocking around like chickens with their heads cut off. Many of the patients had been suffering forms of anxiety attacks, stressing out because of the news of the murder. Many of the nurses had to sedate the patients- there had already been two that had heart attacks when they had heard the commotion and rumors of murder.

Aside from the chaos the murder had caused, Ben's doctors nearly had heart attacks themselves: from both the murder and the sight of Ben's temperature.

No human should be alive at a temperature that low. If anything, the boy was practically dead. His skin was practically white, his breathing was short, and his lips were chapped and a dark shade of blue. Despite these signs of severe hypothermia, he lacked the puffy skin and his heart rate was normal. There had yet to be any major organ failures or signs of any to come.

He was unresponsive and the doctors were worried his body had taken to terminal burrowing. They had too hook an endotracheal tube to Ben, hoping to reheat his body.

Ben looked absolutely miserable. His eyes were half opened, filled with nothing but gloom. His eyes started to tear up, he'd just want everything to stop and go back to normal. A part of him wanted to give up, but he knew what would happen if he did such a thing.

_Ben..._

Ben's eyes widened and he began to thrash. The doctors went berserk as they tried to keep Ben from harming himself. The nurses tried to keep his head from moving so much, and the doctors had to keep his limbs from hitting anybody. Eventually, they removed the tube, worried the boy might choke.

_Oh, Ben..._

Ben began his onslaught of screams. Well, muffled screams. One of the doctors let go of Ben's arm in order to keep the tube in place. "Benjamin! Stop this at once! You're going to hurt yourself!"

_You seem to be in quite the dilemma, Ben._

"I've had enough of this!" a doctor went off, followed by two more. The nurses stayed where they were and tried to calm Ben down. He began crying again though his thrashing had died down a bit. A nurse cautiously went to pet the top of Ben's head, attempting to give the child some comfort in whatever Hell he seems to be going through.

_Aw, someone wants to help you. If only they knew what was really wrong._

"Please...go away..." The nurse stopped what she was doing and looked a bit hurt. Ben glanced up at her, opening his mouth to apologize, but the doctors had returned, an IV being wheeled over and a syringe held in another's hand.

_It seems that they are going to make my job much easier._

The thrashing began again. His begged the doctors not to inject anything into him. The nurses had to hold him down once more- a few doctors had to keep him down, as his lashing worsened and became much more violent.

His arm was forced along the surface of his bed, keeping it clear for injection. It was almost impossible to keep him from moving but eventually the doctors managed to get a clear shot of his arm and infused the contents of the syringe into Ben.

The ten year old's cries began to calm. His thrashes had lessened and in a matter of minutes, his eyes shut. The doctors and nurses had let go of him. "Oh thank goodness he's calmed down..."

"Doctor, what are we going to do? He shouldn't be alive."

"There is something very unnatural about this boy..."

"Well, we can't just stand around and discuss the oddities of this kid! There's gotten be something to explain what's wrong with-"

"It's not something I can explain easily." The doctors and nurses gasped and turned to Ben, now sitting up, smiling innocently.

"B-Benjamin?"

"How are you awake?"

"I'll get another dose doc-"

"Oh no," Ben grabbed the nurse's wrist, holding her back from the syringe. "That won't be necessary.

* * *

"It's times like this where your Plumber tech really comes in handy," Gwen stated as she slipped out of what seemed to be the background. It the "background" around her manifested into a raggedy cloak. "Even if the style doesn't really fit my usual tastes."

The two were in the corridor which lead to Ben's room. The hallway had been very quiet. Was Ben transported to another hospital? If he had been, why didn't the surgeons call to give Max the heads up- especially when something like this had occurred.

They made their way towards the room but were greeted with an empty area. There seemed to have been some sort of skirmish taken in the vicinity.

"Grandpa...What-" Max clenched his fists. Gwen looked up and her eyes widened as she noticed how upset her grandfather had been. She remembered that look. It was the same look he had when Vilgax had come to Earth to take Ben away.

There was a clang from at the end of the hallway. The two immediately turned to each other. They ran out of the room to see what could have made the noise.

* * *

"Get out."

"And why should I?"

"This is my body."

"Well, now that's too bad isn't it?"

"Get out."

"You should stop fighting this. It'll only end poorly on your part."

"Please...Get out."

"Being polite won't help you."

A sob. Ben bumped into a medical table, glass breaking, tools scattered across the floor. They made a loud clang.

"Please..."

" Ugh. If only you could stay quiet!" Ben looked to the floor. He smiled when he spotted a syringe. "Hmm, I wonder."

"No don't! We don't even know what's in that! For all you know, if might kill us both!"

"I know that..." Ben heard someone coming. "Let's go." He went to move but his first step hesitated. "Don't fight me boy. You can't keep this up."

"I've managed to keep you from turning into your other form. I can keep us from moving!"

"You little brat I'll-"

"Ben?" Ben's eyes widened when he saw Gwen and Grandpa Max standing in the doorway. He was caught off guard. Ghostfreak had taken advantage of this and forced Ben to run off. "Ben wait!"

The two ran after him, trying to tell him to stop. Ben had made his way down to the hallway until Ghostfreak forced him to stop. "What are you plan- augh!" Ben walked over to the wal and bashed his head. He screamed loudly.

"You can make this easy for yourself! You can either give me control, or I can force you to quiet down!"

Ben growled and didn't respond to Ghsotfreak's bargain. Ghostfreak screeched and made Ben throw his head to the wall. Again and again and again. Ben's vision began to blur. Before he blacked out, he saw Gwen and Grandpa Max come into the hallway.

"Grandpa...Gwen... Go away... Please..." Everything went dark.

The two were alone with Ghostfreak.

* * *

Sorry if the end of this chapter wasn't very good uou I'll try to update as soon as I can ; u ;


End file.
